The Sony NEX-5 might only be 10 months old, but it’s quite an old CSC now and clearly indicates how fast this area of the market is moving. Rather than utilising the Micro FourThirds mount, the Sony NEX-5 has an APS-C sized sensor and all-new E-mount, which has a 1.5x crop factor. Its 14.2Mp resolution is the same as that found in many of Sony’s mid-range D-SLRs, such as
the Sony A550, and results in the 18-55mm kit lens producing a 27-82.5mm focal length equivalent.
Currently, there are only three E-mount lenses produced for the Sony NEX-5 – the E16mm f/2.8, E18-55 f/3.5-5.6 and the E18-200mm f/3.5-6.3. If you’re a Sony D-SLR user however, and own A-mount lenses, these can be used with the NEX-5 if an EA1 lens mount adapter is purchased at a cost of £159.
The ISO range is the broad, stretching from 200-12,800, and as well as shooting in the native 3:2 aspect ratio, there’s the opportunity to shoot at 16:9. The NEX-5 doesn’t feature a hot-shoe to support an EVF, but Sony has produced an optical viewfinder that screws into an accessory socket on the top-plate. It should be noted though, that this can only be used with the 16mm prime lens.
Lined up against its rivals, the Sony NEX-5 quite clearly sports the smallest footprint, measuring 117x33mm. These dimensions make it an excellent pocket-sized camera when used with a ‘pancake’ lens, but with the relatively beefy 18-55mm lens coupled to the front, it rather scuppers the appearance and design of the slender body.
HandlingThe kit lens offers a beautifully fluid motion and right behind it is an excellent and super-sharp 3in, 921K dot screen that can be pulled out and moved up or down to aid low-angle and high-angle shooting. Button placement on the gloss black body is clearly laid-out and there’s a great choice of shooting modes that include M,A, S, P Intelligent Auto (iA) and Sweep Panorama mode for recording 226º panoramas. As well as the D-Pad controlling flash, exposure compensation and continuous shooting, it doubles as a control dial for adjusting aperture and shutter speed. The NEX-5’s trump card is that it can shoot at an impressive 7fps in Speed Priority mode. In our tests we recorded a burst of 7 RAW files consecutively on a 4GB SDHC 133x card before the buffer filled up, and we were also impressed by the contrast-detect AF system that locked onto subjects quickly.
After prolonged use it was clear that this wasn’t the quickest CSC to set up as many settings are tucked away inside six sub-menus, but we liked the Movie record button just above the thumb-rest for instant recording of HD videos at the 1280x720 resolution.
SPECIFICATIONStreet price (with kit lens): £399
Resolution: 14.2Mp (4592x3056)
Lens mount: Sony E Mount
Focal length magnification: 1.5x
Additional viewfinder: Optical FDA-SV1 (£155) [16mm only]
Focusing: Contrast-detect AF system
Anti-shake: Lens-based (& featured on kit lens)
Burst rate: 7fps (7RAW & 100 JPEG)
Write times: 1.5secs (RAW) 1sec (JPEG)
ISO rang: 200-12,800
Shutter range: 30secs-1/4000sec
Monitor: 3.0in 921K TruBlack LCD
Video: 1280x720 @ 30fps
Storage: SD,SDHC,SDXC, Memory Stick PRO DUO/HG Duo
Weight: 229g (body only)
Dimensions: 117x63x33mm
www.sony.co.ukDigital Photo Gold Award